Forbion said Tuesday it has banked 2.3 billion euros, or $2.6 billion, across two venture funds, Forbion Growth Opportunities IV and Forbion Ventures Fund VIII, with the capacity to invest in as many as 30 young companies. The raise, which exceeded what the firm planned to raise this year, is the largest in its history; its last fundraise was $2.2 billion in 2024. It has already begun deploying capital, with recent investments including Sling Therapeutics and Solstice Oncology.
The investor roster is notable. Institutions pouring in new funds include Dutch pension managers MN and PGGM, the Kauffman Foundation, Germany’s KfW Capital, and Eli Lilly. Forbion, based in the Netherlands, is Europe’s largest venture fund exclusively focused on life sciences; it says it has supported 142 companies since inception and seen its startups bring 21 drugs or other medical products to market. It now manages 7.5 billion euros in assets.
The fundraise arrives against a bleak backdrop for European biotech. Last month, nine prominent board chairs wrote an open letter arguing Europe treats medicine “as a cost to suppress rather than one of the best investments a government can make,” pointing to fewer clinical trials and a shrinking share of global pharmaceutical R&D, with activity shifting to China and the U.S. Forbion co-founder Sander Slootweg said the firm now has “significant dry powder in a market characterized by a general shortage of capital.” That shortage is precisely what shut down Caribou this week; the difference is who controls the checkbook.